Police find a fifth drugs den

Officers armed with a search warrant swooped on a house in Havelock Road on Tuesday morning, seizing 150 plants.

A Vietnamese woman was arrested and has appeared briefly in court.

Police were this week unable to confirm whether the discovery is linked to previous finds.

Tuesday's police operation was mounted after an officer passing the house detected a strong smell of cannabis.

Each of the three floors of the property contained cannabis plants being grown under a hydroponics system with heat lamps.

Hydroponics factories are generally associated with the production of "skunk" cannabis. Normal cannabis is produced from the leaves of the plant. Skunk cannabis is produced using only the buds and is many times stronger.

Use of skunk cannabis has been shown to lead to schizophrenia and other mental disorders

The police run of success in Bexhill in the war against drugs so far this year reads like this:

*Wednesday, January 3 - police acting on a tip-off from a worried landlady raid a house in De La Warr Road. Almost every room in the three-storey house is given over to the growing of cannabis plants. Police estimate the cost of setting up the elaborate system at 10,000. More than 600 plants are seized. A 28 year-old Vietnamese who returned to the premises is arrested by police after fleeing by car.

*Monday, January 15 - Following an anonymous tip-off, police raid two adjoining houses in Sidley Street. They find hydroponics factories on both floors of each property. More than 700 plants are recovered.

*Tuesday, January 16 - Within 24 hours of the previous raids, police go to another property in Sidley Street. They recover more than 300 plants being grown under a hydroponics system.

A 38 year-old Vietnamese is arrested.

Tuesday's raid is further evidence that "quiet" Bexhill is being targeted by an organised crime gang or gangs willing to invest large sums of money in sophisticated equipment for the lucrative production of skunk cannabis.